Notorious gang leader shot dead

Malaysian police have shot dead the alleged leader of a notorious gang of robbers.

The man from Sampang, Indonesia, was identified as Matruji.

He was also known as Mat Ting War, 43, the police said.

He was spotted sitting in a car by the police during a routine patrol at Taman Mas, in Selangor, around 9pm on Tuesday, Malaysia's The Star reported.

When the police approached him, he got out of the vehicle and hid in a nearby bush before shooting at the police.

Selangor deputy police chief Abdul Rahim Jaffar said his men returned fire and killed the man.

"After the shoot-out, we recovered a semi-automatic pistol, bullets, a bolt cutter and a crowbar from the scene," he said during a press conference at Sepang police headquarters yesterday.

ALLEGED MASTERMIND

He said Matruji was the alleged mastermind of a notorious gang of robbers called Geng Rantau Mahkota, and the man was allegedly involved in at least 27 robberies in Selangor and the rest of the country since 2005.

"He was arrested in 2011 under the Emergency Ordinance, but was released two years later," he said.

The car used by Matruji was also reported stolen during a robbery at Sikamat, Negeri Sembilan.